Human stem cells restores some vision in blind rat

8th March 2012

Researchers at University College London and Moorfields Eye Hospital have used stem cells taken from the back of a human eye to restore some vision to blind rats.

Publishing their findings in the journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine, they say the findings could help treat blindness, caused by glaucoma, if similar results can be repeated in humans. Glaucoma kills retinal ganglion cells, which take information from the retina and pass it onto the brain, but the researchers believe they have regenerated the retinal ganglion cells using human stem cells.